RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 892nd career goal, moving him three away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record, but rookie Jackson Blake scored twice to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 5-1 on Wednesday night and clinch a playoff spot.
Logan Stankoven, Seth Jarvis and Sean Walker also scored for the Hurricanes, who qualified for the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season. That matches a franchise record.
Frederik Andersen stopped 20 of 21 shots to win his seventh straight start for Carolina.
RANGERS 5, WILD 4, OT
Vincent Trocheck scored at 24 seconds of overtime to give the New York a victory over Minnesota.
Trocheck slid the puck past goalie Filip Gustavsson to help the Rangers keep pace with Montreal in the Eastern Conference wild-card race. Both teams have 79 points.
Artemi Panarin scored his team-leading 34th goal and Braden Schneider, K’Andre Miller and Chris Kreider added goals for New York. Igor Shesterkin made 20 saves.
Minnesota’s Marco Rossi tied it at 4 early in the third. Gustav Nyqvist, Brock Faber and Marcus Johansson also scored, and Gustavsson made 34 saves. The Wild are in wild-card position in the Western Conference with 89 points.
MAPLE LEAFS 3, PANTHERS 2
TORONTO (AP) — Mitch Marner scored the goal-ahead goal midway through the third period, Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves and Toronto beat Florida in an Atlantic Division showdown.
John Tavares and Matthew Knies also scored to help division-leading Toronto wrap up a playoff spot and and move three points ahead of Tampa Bay and four in front of Florida. Marner and Knies also had assists.
Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist for defending Stanley Cip champion Florida. Gustav Forsling also scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots.
